Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 833 Wealth and Sale of Stolen Items ([-])

Recently, there has been some unrest outside Yancheng Port.

The unstable factor does not come from the sea, but from the inland areas adjacent to it.A small settlement in the salt marshes on the east coast, Salt Mountain (located in the later town of Medanos, named after the mountains of salt in the salt desert to the west) - this is a settlement in the "Valladolid Treaty" Clearly point out the small town belonging to the east coast - a group of Tehuelche people came nearby. These tall Indians (generally higher than 1.8 meters) brutally expelled some small Kelandi tribes attached to the people on the east coast, and then Get salt, hunt nearby.Although they seemed to have no intention of occupying this place for a long time, and they only came here once a week or two, they still caused a certain degree of panic to the residents on the east coast who settled here and made their living from mining salt.

In desperation, Yancheng Port had no choice but to send people to build a tall brick wall outside the settlement for them, and at the same time set up 6 light artillery pieces for them on the top of the wall.With these weapons, which can be called weapons, the local salt miners calmed down a little and continued to mine a large amount of table salt locally.

Shao Yuanyi hired several gauchos as guards in Yancheng Port, and then went to Yanshan Fort along the sandy road for transporting salt.There are large and small swamps and lakes everywhere on both sides of the road, and the north and south sides almost extend to a width of tens of kilometers.Because the swamp area has just passed the rainy winter at this time, the lakes and ponds, large and small, are full of water-unfortunately, most of these water ponds are salt water or brackish water, and only a few are freshwater.

The lake also varies in color from red to blue (reflecting the sky) and is full of flocks of flamingos that feed on crustaceans and other small animals in the swamp.Occasionally, some animals such as ostriches and swamp deer come to lick the raw salt, but they seldom approach the road where heavy-duty horse-drawn carriages often pass back and forth.

With the abundant rain, the salt crust (salt-covered silt) that had been hardened in summer has melted away, and the foul-smelling gray-black silt is everywhere.A large amount of snow-white salt is piled up beside the salt lake. It looks so white and flat, with a thickness of tens of centimeters. Under the water surface in the center of the salt lake, the thickness of the salt layer is more than one meter. But it's all wealth!

According to sampling tests by Wang Dali and others appointed by the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources, the salt produced in the salt marshes stretching for tens of kilometers near Yanshanbao is of very high purity.For example, in the pure table salt area near the salt lake that does not contain sodium sulfate, the mined salt hardly needs any purification. Except for 0.26% gypsum and 0.22% soil, the rest is basically sodium chloride, and the purity is surprisingly high.

“We have a mountain of salt here, but apart from domestic people coming to buy it, the foreign market is still blank. They either use the salt collected by the Dutch from the salt lake in Curacao, or the salt made by the Portuguese in Cape Verde. Haiyan.” A Bingtuanbao cadre who went to Yanshanbao with Shao Yuanyi complained, “We have to change this unfavorable situation, either find a way to sell the salt abroad, or find a way to develop the salt chemical industry, otherwise We'll never get rich here."

"How did you solve the drinking water problem in the salt marshes?" Shao Yuanyi suddenly remembered this question, so he asked.He was really curious, how did the workers living there drink water in such places where there are salt lakes and salt deserts?

"Dig wells, build artificial reservoirs, find freshwater lakes in the field..." The student leader was stunned for a moment, and then quickly replied without thinking: "Well water is not always salty, well water dug in many places can For drinking, it’s just a little saltier than the local water on the east coast; the artificial reservoir is very simple, with filtering function, and currently it’s our main source of drinking water, because it’s clean, the water either comes from rainfall , or from the creeks and rivers that flood after spring-in the season of snowmelt flooding in the Andes, the water flowing in these creeks will change from brackish water to fresh water; the other is wild freshwater lakes, the reason is the same as above, There are even some aquatic animals living in these lakes, which is quite magical."

"Especially in the rainy winter and spring seasons, the water in these lakes is very low in salinity and is completely drinkable." The cadres of the soldiers introduced Shao Yuanyi eloquently.Maybe the subordinates he usually manages are a group of rough people - not very good chat partners - so he is very eager to talk at the moment, just listen to him continue: "But if you go out this season, be careful, you'd better bring Put on a helmet or hat, because hail is very frequent. There were several hailstorms last year, and one of them even killed a lot of animals looking for food outside. I picked up 25 ostriches and 7 The carcasses of the head deer—these were all killed by the hailstone—anyway, in this magical place, everything must be taken care of.”

A group of people continued to move forward, and the number of lakes on both sides of the road gradually increased.The cadres of the soldiers pointed out to Shao Yuanyi that lakes with gravel on the shore are generally freshwater lakes, and the shore and bottom of the lake must be clay, and the surrounding reeds are also extremely dense, guinea pigs, ostriches, wild ducks, swamp deer, foxes and even pumas. As for the lakes whose banks are covered with fetid black silt, they are probably saltwater lakes, and the bottom of the lake must be a thick layer of crystalline salt.There are generally few plants next to it. Except for flamingos, which are here to catch insects and eat them, there are basically few animals that come here to move around.

"Is there a big threat from the nearby Indians? I mean the Tehuelche people. I heard that their attitude is very unfriendly, and they have expelled some Kelandi tribes who are attached to us." Looking at the salt marsh area full of wealth, Shao Yuanyi His heart gradually became active, and it was at this time that he was more concerned about the safety of this land.

"Yes, these barbarians!" When it came to this question, the young soldier put on a hideous expression: "That Tehuelche tribe is a big tribe, and they still have horses. I don't know where they came from." Made it. They expelled a small Krandi village living in the south of the salt marshes, killed four Krandi men, took three cows, ten sheep, and sent people to come to us Warn us."

"Warning for what?" Shao Yuanyi was a little surprised.

"Warning us for encroaching on their land." The student cadre said nonchalantly, "We took out the Valladolid Treaty, but they didn't approve it. They said that the Spaniards only wanted to buy a hundred horses back then. The land north of the Colorado River up to the coast of Mar del Plata, they did not agree. That is to say, the Spaniards unilaterally declared sovereignty over this land, and they thought it was inappropriate, so they asked us to withdraw from this land, Or pay them enough."

"Pay these savages? Do you agree?" Shao Yuanyi asked again.

"Of course it's impossible." The student cadre curled his lips and said, "In fact, although the Kingdom of Spain doesn't have a settlement near here, or even a settler, this does not prevent their country from paying attention to this area. Sovereign claim to the land. As for the Tehuelches, they are savages, do you think they have a right to this vast and fertile territory?"

Shao Yuanyi was silent when he heard the words.That's right, given the current trend of thought in the East Bank, it's fine for the Tehuelche people to take refuge here. If they dare to oppose the East Bank, the end will obviously be extremely tragic.People on the east coast do not recognize their ownership of this land at all. On the contrary, although the Spaniards do not even have a single settler here, they are civilized people and an old colonial country. They have no doubts about the sovereignty of this land. Often it is so ironic.

Of course, people from the east coast are not fools who don't know how to adapt.If there is any trouble with the Spaniards in the future, then they may have no shame in admitting that Thuerche is the legal owner of this land, and then put aside Spain and happily use such things as hundreds of cows, a hundred The paltry price of a horse bought vast tracts of land from these savages.Two different views on one thing, two diametrically opposed operating methods, the use of the magic lies in one heart.

Yanshan Fort arrived soon, and Shao Yuanyi and others rode their horses to the outside of the fort wall.There are some farmers here who are busy. According to the student cadres, these people are plowing the land, and next month they will sow sorghum here—a high-yield crop that is resistant to drought, salt, alkali, and barrenness.Shao Yuanyi felt that these dozens of farmers were probably the few people in Yanshan Fort who grew food for a living. They also built some wooden fences under the fort wall and raised some ostriches and sheep.Ostriches provide eggs—one three-toed ostrich egg is the size of 11 eggs and are rich in nutrients—and sheep provide meat, leather and wool, accompanied by home-grown vegetables and sorghum. Life is not so difficult.

"Representatives from the army and the Southern Railway Company are here. They are having a meeting in the township government. Township Chief Wang asked you to attend the meeting as soon as you come back." Soon a militiaman trotted over to inform the fellow student cadres.

After hearing the words, the student cadre adjusted his hat, then turned to Shao Yuanyi and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, friend, I think I have to go to a meeting. It is probably a military meeting. Let’s go out together to conquer these barbarians who threaten us, and by the way, capture some slaves and send them to the construction site of the Southern Cone-Ocean Railway. Well, without further ado, I’ll go to the meeting first, goodbye!”

The words of the student cadres revealed a lot of information, and Shao Yuanyi felt a little confused. It seemed that the mainland would not tolerate any provocative behavior from the barbarians, and a thunderous blow was about to come.This is good news for Shao Yuanyi. After all, if he wants to invest and develop business in Yancheng Port in the future, then a safe environment is definitely necessary.

On October 1650, 10, after staying in Yanshan Fort for two days, Shao Yuanyi rushed back to Yancheng Port under the escort of the Gaoqiao people, preparing to return to the mainland - and took Anna's two children to their grandfather by the way live there for a while.

(End of this chapter)